Source: David Sachs, 785-532-1183, sachs@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Diane Potts, 785-532-1090, potts@k-state.edu
Friday, August 24, 2007
K-STATE COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING AND DESIGN LECTURE TO FEATURE ARGENTINEAN ARCHITECT ON HIS 25 YEARS OF URBAN WORK
MANHATTAN -- Distinguished architect and educator Miguel Angel Roca will present a slide lecture of his recent work as part of Kansas State University's College of Architecture, Planning and Design lecture series.
Roca's lecture will be at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union. It is free and open to the public.
Roca, the 2007-2008 Victor L. Regnier Visiting Faculty Chair in Architecture at K-State, will review projects he has designed in his home city of Cordoba, Argentina, over the past 25 years to provide context for a discussion of his more recent efforts.
Roca tries to create architecture that weaves together the fabric of a city and reinforces the unique qualities of each urban environment. His ideas are exemplified in the University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, where he prepared the master plan and designed several buildings. He hoped to give each building an "objective self-sufficient autonomy" while keeping it in context.
Roca studied architecture and urban design at the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina's second-largest city, and at the University of Pennsylvania under Louis Kahn, for whom he later worked. His architectural practice has earned him numerous international design awards and has been featured in eight monographs.
Roca has been a professor at the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba since 1975 and was its dean of architecture and urbanism faculty from 1992 to 2002. Roca also is a professor of architecture at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. He has written many articles on architecture and urbanism and has served as a professor or visiting professor in South America, Europe and the United States.
The Regnier chair, funded by the Victor and Helen Regnier Family Foundation, Mission, was established in 2003 through the generosity of their children, Victor A. Regnier, Robert D. Regnier and Catherine M. Regnier. They sought to enrich the educational experience of K-State students by exposing them to the finest architects from around the world.
During several visits to the Manhattan campus in the coming year, Roca will work with students in Vladimir Krstic's fifth-year studio on strategic urban and architectural interventions in downtown Kansas City, Mo. The studio will explore ideas for the transformation of downtown started by the recent design competition for the I-670 corridor. The studio will use work from the competition to expand the dialogue about consolidation in the area.
Roca also will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12, in the Helzberg Room of the downtown Kansas City Public Library, 14 W. 10th St., Kansas City, Mo. A reception at 6:30 p.m. will precede the lecture.
Design professionals can submit attendance at either lecture for continuing education credit by contacting Diane Potts at 785-532-1090 or potts@k-state.edu.